Weird Rules Rumor: At The Beginning, He Insisted That He Was Not Dead
Chapter 178: Landen Detective Agency (6)

When Bai Liang unexpectedly uttered that phrase, not only was Tony shocked, but the live stream viewers also didn't immediately grasp what was happening.

【What the hell? I was just about to listen to Bai Shen analyze, and you immediately said you found the killer?】

【That's impossible! There's so little information right now; even if all the clues were gathered, you couldn't immediately conclude who the killer is.】

【Something's wrong, this is incredibly weird. Other Players also completed this quest at the Detective Agency; they only had to solve one case, so Bai Shen has almost passed it already?】

【Damn it, Bai Shen is Bai Shen! He just entered the quest and immediately found the real killer!】

【Honestly, guys, I don't understand how this is even possible. Bai Shen hasn't even finished looking through the case file. If he found anything, it should just be clues. How could he deduce the killer based on already known information?】

【I suspect Bai Shen is doing this to mislead the real killer. Don't you remember how he forced Sophia to reveal herself in "Five Mansion"? Bai Shen seems to want to repeat that trick!】

【Now that you mention it, I also remember that in "Five Mansion" his methods were truly flawless.】

【But no, in "Five Mansion" it worked because there were so few people. But at the Detective Agency, which is in the city, how can he make the killer reveal themselves? Even if the killer is nearby, how will he recognize them?】

【Then let's see how Bai Shen will act. I still believe in him; his methods cannot be evaluated from a logical standpoint.】

...

Rain fell on Umong, the light in the Landen Library was dim, but it was enough to illuminate Tony's shocked face.

"Bai Liang, you... what did you just say?"

His expression showed he was utterly bewildered.

He had been investigating this case from the very beginning and knew far more about it than Bai Liang.

At the scene of the suicide in the rented apartment, Tony had been present from start to finish, gathering every piece of evidence that could possibly be relevant to the case.

But even with all that, he couldn't draw any useful conclusions.

Let alone the killer – he didn't even have a suspect!

And Bai Liang?

A rookie who had only just graduated from Mantis College yesterday and was merely on his first day of work, he arrived at the crime scene, hadn't even finished reading the dossier...

And had already found the killer?!

No, something isn't right here!

Suddenly, Tony seemed to snap awake. Something important surfaced in his memory, and he frowned, looking at Bai Liang with a hint of suspicion.

"Bai Liang, I understand you want to prove yourself," he said in a serious tone.

"That's normal. When I first came to the agency, I had the same thoughts – it seemed like my hunches were bound to be right."

"But reality turned out to be far more complex. Time and again, my theories proved to be completely wrong."

"That's why I'm telling you, as someone with experience: before drawing conclusions, you need to test your hypotheses again and again. Sometimes you have to completely abandon your initial assumptions and look at everything from a new perspective."

"Only when all the details fall into place and not a single clue contradicts your version, can you arrive at a final conclusion!"

Tony spoke with the air of a wise mentor, but Bai Liang merely sighed and asked wearily:

"Mr. Tony, do you not allow for the possibility that I simply found the murder weapon?"

Tony froze abruptly.

His hand, which had been reaching out to pat Bai Liang's shoulder, hung in the air – and now he didn't know whether to lower it or still pat him.

"W-what...?"

"Wait... you found the murder weapon?!"

Tony stared with obvious disbelief.

He scrutinized Bai Liang from head to toe, then shifted his gaze to the entrance of the library from which they had come.

"We've been together this whole time, right?"

"You're encountering this case for the first time, aren't you?"

"You were just sitting in front of me, studying the materials; I saw it with my own eyes!"

Tony raised a hand, pointing at his eyes with his index and middle fingers, and asked uncertainly:

"Then how did you manage to find the murder weapon right under my nose?"

"Or maybe I'm still dreaming? If I jump out of this window, perhaps the fall will wake me up?"

In short, he simply couldn't believe what was happening.

"Mr. Tony, what if I told you I could stop time?" Bai Liang asked with a smile.

"What, while you were looking at the documents, I managed to pause time, find the killer, and gather all the evidence?"

Tony waved his hand and laughed:

"Stop joking! I've only seen something like that in movies."

"And besides, if you really had such an ability, would you waste it on solving crimes instead of something more worthwhile?"

"That would be a real waste! I'd sooner believe this is a dream than your "stopped time"."

---

At this moment, Police Inspector Blainey approached them.

He stood next to Tony, crossed his arms over his chest, and asked with bewilderment:

"I'm listening to your conversation here... You're talking about stopping time... Shouldn't you be discussing the progress of the investigation?"

"Tony, I know you're the lead detective at the agency, and we've worked together many times before."

"But if you slack off, I'll immediately terminate our cooperation."

"And I'll ask your president to replace you with a more competent detective."

Tony glanced at Bai Liang, then said with an exaggerated intonation:

"My dear Inspector Blainey, I think you misunderstood us. We were just discussing how to solve this case."

"As for your words about "stopping time"... Um... Bai Liang and I are actually studying how exactly one can stop time to solve cases in the shortest possible time."

Blainey looked at him with a complete lack of emotion, his gaze practically saying, "Do you take me for an idiot?"

"Alright, Tony, the report on the bullet's fingerprints is ready."

"It only has Will's fingerprints."

Blainey pulled out his phone and handed it to Tony; the examination results were displayed on the screen.

Tony glanced at it, frowning so deeply that his eyebrows resembled a blooming chrysanthemum.

"What, are we closing this case as a suicide again?"

But this scenario didn't look like a suicide at all.

The body's posture clearly indicated murder.

If the case were truly closed as a suicide, it would mean the killer had simply outsmarted him, the best detective, leaving him sprawled on the ground with their intellect!

"Mr. Tony, there's no need to rack your brain. The killer is Old Byrne."

Bai Liang unexpectedly spoke.

At that very moment, both Tony and Blainey sharply turned towards him.

"Old Byrne? The same professor who lives across from the Detective Agency?" Tony immediately recalled who he was talking about.

They had indeed checked the residents across from the agency. That old professor had been retired for a long time, usually stayed at home, and sometimes went out for a walk with a black cat.

But he was already over ninety!

He used a wheelchair to move around!

How could he have killed 26-year-old Will?!

"Impossible, Bai Liang!" Tony immediately dismissed that theory. "Old Byrne has no motive, no physical capability, and no suitable alibi. At the time of the crime, I even greeted him!"